Customer Reviews

Illmatic (Aniv)

5 star:		(57)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Let me preface my review by saying that the original Illmatic album (Disc One of this edition) is an undeniable classic, five stars, without a doubt. But as a whole, this 10 Year Anniversary Edition only gets three stars (I really wanted to give it two), and the primary reason is Disc Two.

The bottom line: this is so much LESS than it could have been.

I love remixes, but the four remixes included here...they just don't work. I don't want to hear Illmatic-era lyrics over 2004-radio-rapper beats. The best of the four is the "It Ain't Hard To Tell" remix, which does have a hardcore, yet updated feel to it. Nas spits some different lyrics (perhaps he re-recorded them for this edition), which is cool. The worst is the "One Love" remix; it inexplicably features censored lyrics, which completely ruins the song, especially when they edit words like "nine" and "L's." Come on. What a waste.

Perhaps the biggest problem I have with including these subpar remixes is the fact that there are already some great remixes of these songs THAT WEREN'T INCLUDED! I'm referring to the remixes done back in '94 and '95 when these songs were released as singles. The Q-Tip remix of "The World Is Yours" and the Arsenal Mix of "Life's a B****" are outstanding. "One Love," "It Ain't Hard To Tell," and "Halftime" were all remixed back in the day, and quite well too. I would argue that these remixes make up a large part of the Illmatic mystique, and they should have been included in this celebratory anniversary collection. I mean, why not? OPEN UP THE VAULTS!

Another thought: if you are going to create some new remixes of these songs, why not bring in the original producers to do the job? Get Primo, Extra P, Tip, Pete Rock and Big LES and have them either remix their own songs or let them swap. It would be pretty cool to get those legends to give us an updated version of their classic tracks.

The two new songs on Disc Two (produced by Marley Marl and Extra P) are pretty good, worthy of inclusion here. Although, again, I would have liked to hear something from 10 years ago...weren't there any unreleased tracks that were scrapped when the 10-song Illmatic sequencing was finalized?

My other complaint about this collection is the lack of liner notes. A small thing, perhaps, but when I buy a greatest hits disc, anthology, or anniversary edition, I expect to get liner notes--and I am disappointed when I don't.

It basically all boils down to this: this collection doesn't live up to the greatness of the very album it was created to celebrate. Quite a disappointment.

Nas' street appeal has never been deniable, and that is his heart on every album he has ever made, from Illmatic, to Stillmatic, to God's Son. Illmatic was released again for its 10th anniversary, and never having owned the album, I bought it. Saying that this is one of the best hip-hop albums ever is a lie. It IS the best hip-hop album ever! Know why? Nas keeps it real for the streets. He doesn't use fancy production, he isn't flashy, and he has a limited vocab but a big heart for rapping. Illmatic has street written all over it. You can FEEL the streets of New York sweep over you as you listen to this album, and the experience is unmatched. Nas has always competed with Jay-Z for king of NYC, except on this album. While I listen to Jay-Z a lot more, and like him better, he doesn't have a heart quite like Nas does. Jay-Z is at his heart, a gentleman, obsessed with cars, girls, and cash by the bags. Nas isn't. He's authentic. I'm not saying Jay-Z is fake, but Nas only cares about rap, and sending messages straight from the projects. Listen to this album for a definition of what rap is. It will send a rush through you unlike any other. And with only 10 tracks, every one is a classic. The best rap album ever. period.
Bonus Cuts: They are very good, but they should be saved for another album. Definitely draw away the classic feel from the original Illmatic album. Still worth a listen. *If you already own the original Illmatic, there is little to no point in getting the anniversary edition.

"Illmatic" is the perfect rap album. This is the one album ever made that bridged the old school to the new school, the best producers to the greatest MC, real world lyrics to straight fun. Nas introduced himself as the world's greatest rapper here, and although he would defend this title for years to come, he would never match the quality of "Illmatic". He paints stories of life in Queensbridge, his beloved project, makes philosophies on the state of the world, reminisces over his younger days, and obviously has a lot of fun. What's so beautiful about "Illmatic", however, is that Nas could never have done it alone. It's totally a group effort, because Nas recruited only the greatest producers of 1994 for this album. Put it in the CD player and treat yourself to the productions of Large Professor, Pete Rock, Q-Tip, L.E.S., and DJ Premier. "Illmatic" is probably the only hip hop album ever to have immortal lyrics matched by such immortal production, which is why it is widely considered hip hop's bible.

The album starts with an intro, where Nas and his friend AZ have a conversation about the state of current rap and life over a dope beat. If it weren't for "The Genesis", I doubt that albums would have intros like they always do today. "NY State of Mind", Primo's first track, is the first song that Nas paints a ghetto portrait for the listener. "Life's a B**ch" is one of the greatest hip hop collaborations of all time. AZ leads in with one of my favorite verses ("Visualizin' the realism...") and they give their young philosophies on life. Large Professor produced that excellent beat. "The World Is Yours" was revolutionary, and is the reason Nas is regarded as a ghetto prophet. The piano and bass beat is done by the one and only Pete Rock, and Nas is still recycling lyrics from this song to this day. "Halftime"'s technique changed hip hop for good, and it's jazzy beat only enhanced it. "Memory Lane" might be my favorite song on "Illmatic". Primo's toned down beat with keyboard and vocals is perfect, and Nas takes time to reminisce and think. "One Love" is Nas's classic talk to a friend in jail, produced by Q-Tip. "One Time 4 Your Mind" and "Represent" are both legendary storytellers with great beats and hooks. "It Ain't Hard to Tell" is one of my favorite songs ever, with it's ultra-jazzy and souled-out beat, it's the most purely old school track here. The 10th anniversary edition is definitely worth the extra $2 because it provides a second disc of remixes which complement the originals nicely, plus a newer classic, "Star Wars".

"Illmatic" was successful in melding the quickly progressing hip hop world to its early nineties styles, and in so revolutionized rap in itself. There aren't too many albums that I would call perfect, but "Illmatic" is an unduplicated legend in itself.

In my opinion, as well as the opinion of many others is that Nas's Illmatic Cd is undoubtedly one of the most phenomenol rap albums ever made. The incredible beats set the stage for Nas to rap about stories that paint vivid pictures of his upbringing in The Q. He represents his home incredibly well, being one of the finest rappers who has ever lived. He shows us the gangster life, but also shows us his true emotions, under his "tough- guy" persona. With only ten tracks, Nas shows you how he can say so much in quite little time. Also, although the album is a deal shorter than the average rap CD you buy, and has you wanting more, Nas doesn't say too much. That is a common downfall in rap music today. Often a rap artist will put out CDs with 18- 20 songs, when they really need many less. Nas also shows us that he is a good solo artist and doesn't need much help at all with (I believe to be only) one guestt appearance made by AZ. Many rappers with 20 song long albums have so many guset appearances made on their CDs, that they may only rap themselves for as long as Nas did on this short album. Plus, I will not fail to mention the spectacular new tracks on the bonus CD of this album containing remixes to four of Nas's classic tracks, as well as two previouly unreleased tracks. I must say, that personally Nas is my favorite rapepr of all time next to Tupac. This album is definitely worth buying for any true hip- hop fan, even if you generally don't like some of Nas's new material. Also, so many rappers that were devoloping their styles around the time of this release in '94 copied Nas's style on this one and occassionaly, this goes on today, too. 5+ stars. Classic.

Well...whatever this CD is worth it if you don't have the original Illmatic yet...otherwise, it's not worth getting the CD at all...just another CD with remixes on it and a small web preview.....you would spend $16 just for that if you already have the CD...not worth it.

But as for the actual music on the album...I had only heard clips of illmatic before I got this, I'm that sucker guy you can all bash on now for not having the album in the first place. When I bought this, I knew what I was listening to was a classic because of these reasons:

1. The first REAL street poet album where a story is told to you with one of the best lyrical flows the rap industry has ever witnessed.
2. Original beats by Q-Tip, Large Professor, and best of all, DJ Premier
3. Paved the way for the rappers you hear now, unfortunatly.
4. Lyrically, an INCREDIBLY detailed album for its time and still is today.
5.The first mainstream-marketed rap album I've ever heard to sound like an incredible underground production.

Overall, this version of the album is definitly worth every dollar if your money...but only if you don't have the original version. I rest my case.

I know i'm a white guy from New Mexico, and I know my street cred is next to nothing, but Illmatic by Nas has to be the greatest hip hop album ever recorded. It features the best lyrical performance since Rakim on Paid in Full, it has some of the best beats ever made by the likes of DJ Premier and Large Professor. And it's also trim; ten songs, no skits, none of crap you hear on almost every hip hop release today.

Nas's performance on this album is visionary. Most rappers go from point A to point B in a rap, hit a chorus and that's it. A definite disciple of Rakim, his lyrics move in a fluid way. I have probably listened to this album 100 times, and I always pick up some subtle nuance in his delivery that I haven't heard before. His lyrical content stradles the line between the burgeoning hardcore rap of the time like the Wu-Tang Clan and Biggie and groups from the late 80's artistic peak like A Tribe Called Quest. Q-Tip even produces One Love, arguably the best song on the album. Nas does use his fair share of profanity, but it doesn't seem to be for simple over indulgence like 50 Cent or any number of modern MC's.

Illmatic is an album filled with ten classics and no filler. This is hip hop 101 kids. If your a hip hop fan and don't own this album, then anything you say on the subject is suspect. After this Nas has put out some decent material but nothing essential. Though the album is great, the bonus disc on the tenth aniversary edition is kind of unnecessary. Nothing really strong here, so buy the regular version instead.

There are reasons why Nas' career has been benchmarked to this hip hop classic. Illmatic has been spread around as Nas' NY crown. Now i cant back up on how Illmatic can arguably be the best album of hip hop, or on how Nas is "the king of NYC". But i can say what makes this album so timeless, and the same goes for Hova's "Reasonable Doubt".

Illmatic captures the purest form of street hip hop in rawest form. This isn't Nas rapping about how long he's been in the game, nor how much albums he's sold. It's about the life the streets have pushed to his side and how he can just put his arm around it and spit about it in his artform. The only way he knows how to. I have never been to New York, but his track "NY State of Mind" paints it all in my head, in black and white. "One Love" expresses how life can change thoroughly outside prison cell walls and how the bond of a spoken letter can mean so much. Nas' main flow through the album grabs your ear, but his lyrics make them bleed, and he doesnt need a complex vocab to do it. "Represent" is still one of the best "street-hop" tracks i have ever heard, thanks to Premier's production. The only problem with this 10 year anniversary release is the extra remixed tracks, which have no fit in Illmatic. But i guess that can be a bonus. Bouncin' street beats and productions, NY rap, and well, just life in general. This album simply just puts it in this perspective, that "Life's a Bitch" and that Nas had something to say about it. Again, its hip hop in the purest form, and maybe thats why he hasn't been able to top Illmatic's state of mind. Because he doesnt rap about trying to be at the top. He now raps about how he IS on top.

Either way, Illmatic does deserve to be spoken of, it deserves to be celebrated after 10 years and more, and it deserves to be in any hip hop lover's library. If not his edition, then the original. pz..

I have to agree that Nas' Illmatic is indeed one of the greatest, if not the greatest, rap album of all time. It is not so because of Nas' "realness," however, and certainly not for his lack of vocabulary.

Nas' album was revolutionary because of his lyrical cadence, presentation. Everyone else was rhyming like Fuschnickens, DAS Efx, or ONYX. Before Illmatic, the entire east coast was screaming, if not rapping, in something that bore only a slight resemblance to English.

Enter Nas. With a cool voice over seamless production, he laces every track with complex compound rhyme schemes, leaving fans hungry for more and other rappers sounding like cave men, with some notable exceptions Snoop Dog being one. And even now everyone else sounds like him. Listen to Jadakiss' new album. Jadakiss is great, but Nas' influence is undeniable.

This example from One Love even reads sick

then i rose, wiping the blunts ash from my clothes
then froze only the blow the herb smoke through my nose
and told my little man that i'm a go cyprose
there's some jewels in the skull that he can sell if he chose
words of wisdom from nas try to rise up above
keep an eye out for jake shorty wop
one love

I still dont know what "cyprose" means, but it sounds hot. Maybe he said something else? Anyway, spare the details, the images are vivid on all tracks. And I still pick up new things on every listen.

The only bad thing about Illmatic is that once an artist creates something not only great, but also considerably better than everything before it, he has set an extremely high precedent for himself. The fans expect not only the same but better. And although I am an avid Nas fan, I would be lying if I said I was not disappointed with "Nastradamus" and "I Am."

(Listen to Andre of Outkast's verse on "Rosa Parks" for more on this issue.)

Still Illmatic is great. It was Written and Stillmatic are two of my personal favorite albums. If you like Illmatic, see ATLiens from Outkast Only for Cuban Linx from Raekwon, Reasonable Doubt by Jay Z, both jadakiss' albums, also God's Stepson w/ 9th wonder; 9th Wonder and Murs; Blackstar with Mos Def and Talib Kweli

The remixes were pretty bad, 9th wonder should have done them. Thats why I gave the review four stars.

What can I say that countless other reviewers have not? If you consider yourself a true Hip Hop fan, you must have this album. Since I was only six when this album came out, I was introduced to rap by Eminem in High School. All I knew was what I heard on the radio until I started buying CDs. At one point I was in the music store and found two CDs at a good price: Illmatic - the platinum version and Get Rich or Die Tryin. I had to make a choice between the two. I made the right choice and picked Illmatic based on good reviews I read here on Amazon. At first I did not get the hype, it all went straight over my head. I listened to it again and again until something inside me clicked. Now, this is my favourite album. Here's what I thought of each track:

-1. THE GENESIS 3/5 - Great intro, the beat is grimy and gets me amped up for the rest of the album. Listen closely for Nas's verse from LIVE AT THE BARBEQUE in the background "Street's disciple, my raps are trifle / I shoot slugs from my brain just like a rifle"(the only reason it gets 3/5 is because its an intro as apposed to a full song)

-2. N.Y. STATE OF MIND 5/5 - My personal favourite. Some of DJ Premier's best work is on this album. The beat is dark and gritty. There is an acute sense of a young man trapped in a dangerous world. It is tense and dark. A Rakim sample for the hook completes it. "Heard a few chicks scream my arm shook, couldn't look / Gave another squeeze heard it click yo, my s*** is stuck"

-3. LIFE'S A B**** 5/5 - A killer debut verse from Brooklyn rapper AZ, though both emcees shine immensely. Both feel like they're trapped in the system. Nas has smoother flow, but I consider this song to belong to AZ. "Visualizin the realism of life and actuality / F*** who's the baddest a person's status depends on salary". Minimalist production from L.E.S. is overshadowed by the more experienced producers, love Olu Dara's trumpet solo at the end.

-4. THE WORLD IS YOURS 5/5 - Some of the most poetic work from Nas. The idea that one can take they're life into their own hands is a startling contrast to the previous track. Pete Rock's production is jazzy and I like the hook he drops. "I keep fallin, but never fallin six feet deep / I'm out for presidents to represent me".

-5. HALFTIME 3.5/5 - An appropriate track for the middle of the album. It was Nas's first single, released on the soundtrack for Zebrahead two years earlier. It is probably the weakest track on the CD, more or less because Nas is all over the place. However, it features some very clever wordplay throughout and interesting production from the Large Professor that sounds like a matching of jazz and jingle bells. "I'm max like cassettes, I flex like sex / In your stereo sets, Nas will catch wreck".

-6. MEMORY LANE 5/5 - You can picture Nas sitting on the stoop writing hits lyrics, he paints pictures with his lyrics. Of course, Primo's supreme production helps. "Poetry, that's a part of me, retardedly bop / I drop the ancient manifested hip-hop, straight off the block".

-7. ONE LOVE 5/5 - A conceptual track in which Nas writes his friends that are incarcerated in San Quentin then he schools a youngster headed down the road to prison. Q-Tip's production is spot on, the echoing sounds evoke images of jail cells. "Shorty's laugh was cold blooded as he spoke so foul / only twelve trying to tell me that he liked my style".

-8. ONE TIME 4 YOUR MIND 4/5 - Along with Large Professor's beat, Nas is laid back plus his flow is spot on. This one doesn't pop out as much as the other tracks though. "Ya'll n****s was born , I shot my way out my Mom Dukes".

-9. REPRESENT 5/5 - After chillin' to the previous track, get back up again for this high energy beat from Premier. I love bumping this on in the car. Nas is on point, representing the QB. "This n**** raps with a razor, keep it under my tongue / The school drop-out, never liked the s*** from day one".

-10. IT AIN'T HARD TO TELL 4.5/5 - Nas lyrically kills this track. I did not give it 5/5 due to the lack of direction in this track that was present in the others. He averages about 4 rhymes every 2 lines. Some nice jazzy production from the Professor. "Inhale from the L, school a fool well, you feel it like braille / It ain't hard to tell, I kick the skill like Shaquille holds a bill / Vocabulary spills I'm Ill".


The Platinum version has 4 remixes and a couple bonus tracks. I would recommend buying it if you can get it for the same price as the original or close:

-1. LIFE'S A B**** (REMIX) 4.5/5 - The vocals come through a bit clearer in all the remixes. Rockwilder's beat is rather pop sounding, but seem to work fine. I still prefer the original.

-2. THE WORLD IS YOURS (REMIX) 5/5 - Missing a bit of hook that I'm fond of, but Vibesmen's piano driven production fits nicely, I think this is the only track I consider on par with the original.

-3. ONE LOVE (REMIX) 4/5 - The clean version, for some reason. Production by Nick "Fury" also sounds very pop that seems to still work with the song due to the contrast with the dark nature of the lyrics. It just does not match up to the original.

-4. IT AIN'T HARD TO TELL (REMIX) 4/5 - Since this is a show of lyricism, the hyped concert sound of this version suits it. Still, I prefer the jazziness of the original. Also interesting to note that he mixes up his verses and uses alternate verses. I am not sure if they are new or previously written.

-5. ON THE REAL 3.5/5 - Pays homage to Illmatic and advertises Streets Disciple. Includes a ten year old verse, and old school sounding production from Marley Marl. Basically Nas tried to recreate what he did on Illmatic. Looking closely, everything seems on par, yet all together it doesn't hold together well. "To my seed, may I lead you into no greed or evil / In the categories of stories I breed my sequel". I don't like the hook either.

-6. STAR WARS 5/5 - Recent track. Very different production from Large Professor. Kind of a dark technological sound. It doesn't attempt to sound like Illmatic. Nas is more or less disgusted with hip-hop super stardom. "It's shockin - you thinkin "naw it's just rhymin"
But all this time it's like organized crimin".

That pretty much covers everything. Give me feedback if you agree or disagree.

You self-proclaimed hiphop purists kill me with your biased reviews and comparisons. First off, the bonus tracks are not all that bad. The world is yours remix is still some introspective street sh** w/ some new lyrics and with a beat to MAKE you think. The one love remix sounds like something k west produced, but ithas the same effect as the original - it makes the focus nas' amazing lyrics. They almost have a different context with the new production. On the real and star wars sound like the fusion of what nas was, is, and what he proclaims to be. Five stars for both The new and original. Every single track. Go cop Nas' new classic album Streets' Disciple or the Jakes will get you bustas for bein fakes with a miniscule outsiders' understanding of true hiphop. One.